Hi, my daughters father will be sentenced on August 14, and as much as I don't want to write this letter, and as much as I am lying thru my teeth in this letter, I want him to be given leniency so that he may be able to come out as soon as possible so that he can be with our daughter! Please proofread, and tell me what you think.

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To the Honorable Judge xxx,
This letter is in reference to my support of R.J.. My name is xxx, and in the past four years that I have been in Mr. J’s life, he has provided me nothing but love, faithfulness, support, and never-ending gratitude. He has been and will continue to be a model father to our three year old daughter, Chelsea. She misses him dearly. Mr. J has always tried his hardest to keep our family together, no matter what the trials or tribulations may have been. In our past, there have been many obstacles, but his persistence and goal for a better life for all of us has kept us together, and sane, may I add! We both worked full-time hours and when a car accident occurred in October 2004, which involved our daughter and himself, our household took a major decrease in income. His position as stay-at-home dad proved to be his finest, as I worked two full-time jobs to support our home. We’ve survived the New York City Shelter System, and without Mr. J, I don’t think I would have been able to survive on my own. Our determination for Chelsea to not grow up as others do kept us out of the welfare and shelter system. Chelsea underwent many medical exams due to the car accident. She has been diagnosed as having delayed speech impairment, and is currently attending speech therapy sessions. Throughout this time, Mr. J showed perseverance and a willing attitude, as he was solely responsible for bringing Chelsea to her appointments and speech therapy sessions weekly, while I attended nursing school full-time. He has been active in Chelsea’s life since day one, he’s proven to be a loving, caring father, and is genuinely concerned for her well-being, even if it means not seeing her for an extended period of time. Chelsea is still too young to know the consequences of our actions, but I am sure that Mr. J is well aware of how his actions affects the lives of his loved ones. His lapse in his judgment has taken a serious toll on his relationship with Chelsea. I am asking that you consider Chelsea’s relationship with her father when deciding on a sentencing time frame, and the importance he has always been in her life. I have no doubt that he will continue to do right by her and for the sake of our family. Thank you for your consideration and understanding.

Hi, my daughters father will be sentenced on August 14, and as much as I don't want to write this letter, and as much as I am lying thru my teeth in this letter, I want him to be given leniency so that he may be able to come out as soon as possible so that he can be with our daughter! Please proofread, and tell me what you think.

...start...

To the Honorable Judge xxx,
This letter is in reference to my support of R.J.. My name is xxx, and in the past four years that I have been in Mr. J’s life, he has provided me nothing but love, faithfulness, support, and never-ending gratitude. He has been and will continue to be a model father to our three year old daughter, Chelsea. She misses him dearly. Mr. J has always tried his hardest to keep our family together, no matter what the trials or tribulations may have been. In our past, there have been many obstacles, but his persistence and goal for a better life for all of us has kept us together, and sane, may I add! We both worked full-time hours and when a car accident occurred in October 2004, which involved our daughter and himself, our household took a major decrease in income. His position as stay-at-home dad proved to be his finest, as I worked two full-time jobs to support our home. We’ve survived the New York City Shelter System, and without Mr. J, I don’t think I would have been able to survive on my own. Our determination for Chelsea to not grow up as others do kept us out of the welfare and shelter system. Chelsea underwent many medical exams due to the car accident. She has been diagnosed as having delayed speech impairment, and is currently attending speech therapy sessions. Throughout this time, Mr. J showed perseverance and a willing attitude, as he was solely responsible for bringing Chelsea to her appointments and speech therapy sessions weekly, while I attended nursing school full-time. He has been active in Chelsea’s life since day one, he’s proven to be a loving, caring father, and is genuinely concerned for her well-being, even if it means not seeing her for an extended period of time. Chelsea is still too young to know the consequences of our actions, but I am sure that Mr. J is well aware of how his actions affects the lives of his loved ones. His lapse in his judgment has taken a serious toll on his relationship with Chelsea. I am asking that you consider Chelsea’s relationship with her father when deciding on a sentencing time frame, and the importance he has always been in her life. I have no doubt that he will continue to do right by her and for the sake of our family. Thank you for your consideration and understanding.

The letter is good, but it doesn't address the fact that he committed a crime and shows remorse for it. It is important that a judge and prosecutor know that the man about to be sentenced has support from the street, but it is more important for them to know that the man standing in front of them has taken responsibility for his actions and understands the consequences of those actions.
I am speaking from both personal and professional experience.

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By way of deception, thou shalt do war.--The Mossad

I think your use of unnecessary words smothers your message. For example, your first paragraph:

"This letter is in reference to my support of R.J.. My name is xxx, and in the past four years that I have been in Mr. J’s life, he has provided me nothing but love, faithfulness, support, and never-ending gratitude. He has been and will continue to be a model father to our three year old daughter, Chelsea. She misses him dearly."

can be condensed into:

"Mr. J. has been a loving, supportive, and faithfull husband to me and a model father to our 3 y.o. daughter who misses him dearly."
.

Our former county public defender told me "Nice people go to prison all the time." What is said above is true: you need to address what happened and his attitude of (hopefully) remorse, etc.
I'm not saying I blame you for doing all you can, but did you really mean LYING, or did you mean you're exxagerating? I have a hard time with lying to them, although I know it's often done and often by people who should flat-out know better

__________________
"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."- Voltaire -
[François Marie Arouet] (1694-1778)

You may also want to address why he wasn't working. At first glance it doesn't look very good that you work two jobs to support him, even though he was taking care of your daughter. You may want to say something like, "due to the injuries suffered in the accident (and maybe describe them), he was unable to work outside the home." or something to that effect.

ltee, i couldnt have said it better, great job, exactly what i was thinking.

jpswife, you might want to add his accomplishments ie: length of time on the job? college? any certificates? and what kind of an asset he would be to the community? how he helped others, what his goals are? kind considerate compassionate, any qualities you can think of that may help.
hope all goes well for you and your loved ones. keep us posted. dianna

when i said lying i meant exaggerating. yes, he was a good father, but we simply didn't work out. yes, everything that happened in that letter was true. as far as him being a loving, caring and faithful to me, totally untrue. it took a lot for me to write that letter, as much as i didn't want to, i did it for my daughter. well, the letter was successful, the judge gave him the least possible sentence (21 months), and with good time (minus 3 months) and time served (6 months), he'll be back with my daughter in 1 year. thanks for the advice.

I personally wouldn't hold much hope in a letter to the judge. We did this for our friend and many others wrote letters to the judge as well. All wonderful character references that were honest. It didn't make a darn bit of difference. His character references didn't even come up or I don't think even read by the judge. I have also heard that anything written to the judge or probation or anyone other than your loved ones attorney will be twisted and used against them. Just what I learned from our experience.

Sadheart

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Praying For You ! !

"Plea bargaining is a way of trading the risk of 20 years to life, for the certainty of five to seven. But by creating this choice, American justice virtually guarantees that innocent people are being punished.